Climate change and its humanitarian impacts
This report aims to synthesize the wealth of climate information specifically linked to consequences across the globe that require the attention of the humanitarian community. The paper begins with a description of the state of climate information, an inventory of some of the main actors engaged and the products they produce, and an exploration of the main challenges constraining use of climate information by humanitarian actors. Next, scientific evidence and consensuses are used to chart the physical and human consequences of our changing climate, including forcings, feedbacks and tipping points.
The paper concludes with three specific climate consequence scenarios: sea level rise (applying the case of Small Island Developing States), drought (Ethiopia) and flooding and storms (Bangladesh). It intends to provide a qualitative assessment of the confidence currently held in climate change science while escorting climate science to the doorstep of vulnerable households.
This paper was commissioned under the auspices of the Humanitarian Horizons project, a joint initiative of the Feinstein International Center of Tufts University and the Humanitarian Futures Programme, King's College London. The authors are Researchers from the Stockholm Environment Institute.